Playing and listening to music, the horror genre (books, movies, ghost train rides, Halloween, anything to do with it), video games (emulation/retro, old console RPGs, Sega Dreamcast, Flash & Shockwave), collecting toy octopi, comedy, some computing, appreciating visual art, DC comic heroes, croc & shark documentaries, Mexican food, family & friends, animals (I'm a cat guy), the ocean.
Pet peeves: bad character, know-it-alls, pretentiousness, superficiality, teasers, arrogance, rudeness, cruelty, liars, "political correctness", door-to-door solicitors, telemarketers, "Reality TV", and American Idol.
people who are real.
I love rock/hard rock/metal (ranging from The Beatles to Van Halen to System Of A Down and many points in between) and classical (all five periods are good to go). I also like listening to blues, reggae and some jazz/fusion.
Guitar Influences: Randy Rhoads, Kevin Hughes, Jake E. Lee, Nuno Bettencourt, Joe Satriani, Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, George Lynch, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Petrucci, Vinnie Moore, Steve Vai, Angus Young (too many to list here).
Vocal Influences: Paul McCartney, Freddy Mercury, James LaBrie, Ray Gillen, Geoff Tate, Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson, Serj Tankian, Luciano Pavarotti, Bryn Terfel (too many to list here).
Just about any horror, superhero and Australian movie out there, The Big Lebowski, Popeye, Once, Adaptation, Scarface, The Patriot, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, Good Will Hunting, Patch Adams, Braveheart, Schindler's List, Rounders, etc. etc. (I don't have all day).
Rick Steves' Europe, Smallville, Supernatural, House, M.D., Reaper, Two And A Half Men, South Park and Star Trek (Classic).
Aside from loving just about any horror novel good, bad, and ugly out there, some of my favorite authors are Clive Barker, Stephen King, Anne Rice, James Herbert, P.N. Elrod, Nicolas Slonimsky, Roddy Doyle, Charles Dickens, H.G. Wells, and Hunter S. Thompson.
As I don't believe in heroes outside of mythology and comic books, some people that I strongly admire are:
Mom and Dad: I love you both very, very much, and will never be able to repay all that you've done and continue to do for me. Thank you for giving me life and for just being in my life.
Kevin Hughes: my guitar teacher and big brother. I will always be in your debt, friend, for everything that you've done. You gave yourself selflessly at every lesson, as well as before and after every lesson. I love you, Doc; may your wooden boat always reach shore. ;)
Carol 'Kia' Sams: my vocal instructor and big sister. Thank you for your patience, knowledge, diligence, irreverence, and just for ceaselessly putting up with pain-in-the-butt me. :P
Roupen Shakarian: my music instructor, college choir director and big uncle who 'walks silly'. Heck, thanks for just putting up with 'The Rebel'; I still don't understand how or why you did! And YES: VOICE-LEADING AND TEXTURE! It took almost fifteen years for it to finally sink into my thick melon, but I GOTCHA, I GOTCHA! NEE!
The Beatles: my favorite group. Nobody can write like them, nobody sounds like them, nobody can touch them. Period.
Randy Rhoads: my favorite guitar player hands down, the best guitarist that Ozzy Osbourne ever had, and one of the best that the world will ever see. Randy, your phenomenally unmatched talent, skill and artistry made such an impression on me when I first heard your playing at age 14, I belittle the experience in trying to put it into words. You planted a seed in me that continues to grow to this day: the idea that the two seemingly disparate genres of classical and rock could be fused together (and oh how well you fused them together). Thank you, Sir, and may you be at peace.
Luciano Pavarotti: what can one say? He was The Maestro. What an indescribably beautiful voice, and oh how the world is diminished by his passing. Grazie, Signore, e potete essere a pace.
Robin Williams, Monty Python, Richard Pryor and George Carlin: what would we ever do without laughter?
Meriwether Lewis: he's my many-times-great uncle. Yes, I'm namedropping, but only because I'm damn proud of it, so sue me.